Who has the ‘Corridor of Fame’ benefit in Recreation 7?

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The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues have yet one more recreation to problem for the Cup and each groups have nice gamers. However champions at all times have Corridor of Fame gamers, so which present members of those groups measure up?Zdeno Chara|Dave Sandford/NHLI through Getty ImagesI have a pet concept that appears to carry fairly sturdy: If you wish to win the Stanley Cup, you want a minimum of one future Corridor of Famer in your roster. Now, there’s a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy right here as a result of successful all of it appears to be like fairly good on a Corridor of Fame resume – particularly for those who do it greater than as soon as. However even groups that had unlikely runs to glory handle to test off this field.
The 2006 Carolina Hurricanes, for instance, gained all of it with an enormous contribution from rookie goalie Cam Ward, who wasn’t even the starter when the match started. Now, Ward shouldn’t be a future Corridor of Famer, however proper winger Mark Recchi is already in, whereas middle Rod Brind’Amour is a bubble man proper now. You may go all the way in which again to 1927, when the Cup turned an completely NHL affair, and discover Corridor of Famers on the champions.
Some current winners don’t have any present Corridor of Famers, as a result of the gamers aren’t eligible but. However we will assume that Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Drew Doughty will all be there on the finish of the day.
So the place does that set us up for Recreation 7 of the 2019 closing? The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues have already confirmed to be prime outfits within the playoffs, however one appears to have a definite benefit within the Corridor of Fame metric. Let’s break it down.
 
Boston Bruins
 
Locks: Kick it off with the captain, Zdeno Chara. If the Bruins go on to win the title, one of many enduring narratives of the ultimate will certainly be Chara enjoying half the collection with the damaged jaw. That’s magic for Corridor of Fame voters, nevertheless it’s clearly not the one feather in his cap: Chara is one among a sort. He’s the most important participant within the historical past of the sport (6-foot-9, buddy) and it’s laborious to consider many gamers who might match his bodily power. He has a Norris Trophy and has already captained Boston to 1 Cup; a second would solely additional cement his legacy.
Talking of legacies, Patrice Bergeron has a reasonably strong one himself. At this level in his profession, I believe it’s truthful to name him probably the greatest two-way gamers within the historical past of the sport. The 4 Selke trophies communicate to that, however he’s additionally a member of the worldwide Triple Gold Membership (world juniors, worlds, Olympics) and can seemingly finish his profession with greater than 1,000 factors (he’s at 813 proper now).
Bubble Guys: Bergeron’s wing man, Brad Marchand, is fairly devastating himself. Marchand is a two-way fiend and at 31, is coming off his first-ever 100-point season within the NHL – so he’s not slowing down with age. He has two world junior golds, one on the worlds and one on the World Cup of Hockey. His fame as a unclean participant will seemingly damage his possibilities on the Corridor, nonetheless. One other participant to think about is goaltender Tuukka Rask, the seemingly Conn Smythe winner if Boston triumphs in Recreation 7. He’s already top-50 all-time in wins (265) and at 32, has a minimum of a number of extra productive seasons forward of him. Rask’s profession .921 save share is sort of spectacular and he has a Vezina Trophy.
Price Noting: Their careers have simply begun, however David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy seem like they may have big impacts on this staff for years.
 
St. Louis Blues
 
Locks: None.
Bubble Guys: If Alex Pietrangelo goes to carve out a Corridor of Fame argument, it’s going to return by means of sustained excellence fairly than headline-grabbing deeds. The large defenseman is a two-time second-team all-star and he has gained gold on the world juniors, World Cup of Hockey and Olympics. Captaining the Blues to a Cup this yr would actually assist his case, however he’s going to want longer to show his price.
Whereas Ryan O’Reilly has been Bergeron’s equal this yr, his solely particular person hardware to this point is one Girl Byng Trophy. He does have two golds from the worlds and one from the World Cup of Hockey, however an absence of NHL playoff success (till proper now) will damage his possibilities. Then again, if O’Reilly can reel off a bunch extra seasons just like the one he simply had, perhaps he’s a candidate down the street.
Price Noting: If Vladimir Tarasenko can get again to being a 40-goal man as a substitute of a 30-goal man, he might be able to put up essential numbers. Jordan Binnington’s solely a rookie, however he’s off to a reasonably good begin (although Matt Murray did it his first two seasons with Pittsburgh).
 
So yeah, by my metric the Blues are just a little behind. However Recreation 7 might make the distinction for a few of these gamers – it might put them on one other degree, at which level it’s their job to proceed acting at that tempo for years to return. Both method, I’m positive whichever groups wins the Cup shall be far more centered on what they simply completed fairly than something past that sooner or later.
Tags: boston bruins, nhl, st. louis blues, stanley cup playoffsConnect: In regards to the AuthorRyan KennedyRyan Kennedy is the affiliate senior author and draft/prospect professional at The Hockey Information. He has been with the publication since 2005 and in that span, Don Cherry, Lil Jon and The Rock have all referred to as his home. He lives in Toronto together with his spouse and youngsters the place he listens to loud music and collects NCAA pennants.